"The Archie Show" DVD Talkback (Spoilers)

[Eric B]

Just got it last week. Had been waiting.

These aren't the ones I remember. Like the background music shared with several other "comedy" type shows (Brady's, etc), the comedy horn blasts at jokes and slapstick gags (which were revived for the Mighty Mouse and Tom & Jerry cartoons), the pie in the face skits, and I think they also had the skit like what the Groovie Goolies call "Wierd Window".

I guess those must be the later shows. I know this is the first season, the second season was "the Archie Comedy Hour" (in Which Sabrina was introduced), followed by "Archie's Funhouse) with the jukebox), and "Archie's TV Funnies (which were mostly comic strip adventures). Then it was Everything's Archie, and US of Archie.

I wasn't sure how much would be on the DVD, as I did not know how much of those later shows reused the episodes from the original show.
Everything's Archie I think was all repeats, and I know the Archie/Sabrina shows and the mid season replacement "Lalapalooza" were repeats.

So I'm wondering whether new stuff, with the music and sounds I remembered, was added with the Comedy show, or Funhouse, or TV Funnies.
I knew there must be more to it when the back of the booklet/comic book reprint advertised "LOOK FOR MORE ARCHIE RELEASES COMING TO DVD IN 2008!". So I wonder which one(s) are next. Perhaps the next in order with the Comedy Show? Or will they try to squeeze it all into next year. Perhaps guess a box set would be nice, and they're testing to see if this one sells well.

So one good thing about it, is that these are all new to me, as I may have never seen them before (too young, and when old enough to remember, they were playing the later stuff).

Now the booklet, of course, is a reprint of the comic book where they actually stop by the Filmation studio and meet Lou, Norm and Hal. (First time I ever saw the studio, which they had in a real picture in the back of the booklet. I did have my eye out for it (not even knowing what it looked like), when I was exploring the Hollywood area in the summer of '89, not realizing the studio had just been closed down).

At one point, they have Hal saying "I've directed purple ducks and lumpy camels, sexy snakes and many mongooses...". I wondered if that may have been stuff he actually directed, but people are telling me it was just a joke written by the comic storymen.

Also, on the sign logo on the building, in addition to the boomerang shaped angle thing above the "O", there was also the upside-down one under the "O", like on the old SIB logo. Wonder why that was dropped from the logo that was used on TV.

Here's a surprise I never expected.
From the second episode, second segment (Beauty is only Fur Deep), Jughead, instead of Howard Morris, is DON MESSICK! (nowhere credited, either). Hot Dog, in part as well. When he thinks, it is the same voice (supposedly McKennon), but when he barks, yelps, gulps, etc. it sounds identical to SCOOBY DOO!
Jughead sounds just like two other Morris characters Messick filled in for on their final season (1966): Atom Ant and Mr. Peebles from Magilla Gorilla! Another comparable character is Soso the monkey from Peter Potamus, who was always Messick. The other HB characters who were Morris continued to be played by him that last season (Mushmouse, Breezly).
I was halfway through the segment when I noticed it when Jughead was saying "Put 'em up! Put 'em up!", and it sounded almost like SCRAPPY!

I wonder why. Was Morris having some kind of problem back then (66-68) where he could not work as much? He seemed to be getting replaced by Messick alot. He didn't seem to be doing much of anything in the interim between the HB series and Archie.

Also, I wonder why they gave Veronica a "southern belle" voice. I guess is that supposed to convey the sense of some prissy high class dame or something?

[Mandouga]

To put your mind at ease, this is the complete series of "The Archie Show" as it was first originally seen on CBS in 1968 with 17 half-hour shows. The later releases mentioned in the booklet will likely be Archie's Funhouse, Archie's TV Funnies, U.S. of Archie, and what ER calls "Archie and Sabrina's Surprise Package", which consist of the new Archie and Sabrina episodes aired as part of the "New Archie-Sabrina Hour", all of which are dedicated series with their own original episodes. That said, I'm hoping Genius Entertainment also gives us Filmation's Sabrina series as well (see, Sabrina existed way before Melissa Joan Hart did...).

No offense, but you were kind of overcomplicating the issue. None of the rerun packages (Archie's Comedy Hour, Everything's Archie, The Lalapalooza Show) are a variable here, only the original episodes as they were first seen.

[Prof Ultimate]

Is there an opening title for the show with this dvd release? The 1st Archie series was in 1968 and was dubbed The Archie Show.
Here are all the various versions of the series

The Archie Show (1968)
Archie and His New Friends (TV special; 1969)
Archie's Comedy Hour (1969) (repeats of The Archie Show plus Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
Archie Funhouse (1970) (live action/animated hybrid)
Archie's TV Funnies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie%27s_TV_Funnies) (1971)
Everything's Archie (1973) (repeats of previously released material)
The U.S. of Archie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_U.S._of_Archie) (1974)
The New Archie-Sabrina Hour (1977) (repeats of The Archie Show with new Sabrina episodes, and "Surprise Package")(The New Archie-Sabrina Hour was subsequently divided into "The Bang-Shang Lalapalooza Show" and "Super Witch")
The last show description is incorrect. There were new Archies segments produced for the NBC The New Archie-Sabrina Hour show, and they featured a new Latino character named Carlos.

[Mark The Shark]

Just got it last week. Had been waiting.

These aren't the ones I remember. Like the background music shared with several other "comedy" type shows (Brady's, etc), the comedy horn blasts at jokes and slapstick gags (which were revived for the Mighty Mouse and Tom & Jerry cartoons), the pie in the face skits, and I think they also had the skit like what the Groovie Goolies call "Wierd Window".

I guess those must be the later shows. I know this is the first season, the second season was "the Archie Comedy Hour" (in Which Sabrina was introduced), followed by "Archie's Funhouse) with the jukebox), and "Archie's TV Funnies (which were mostly comic strip adventures). Then it was Everything's Archie, and US of Archie.

I wasn't sure how much would be on the DVD, as I did not know how much of those later shows reused the episodes from the original show.
Everything's Archie I think was all repeats, and I know the Archie/Sabrina shows and the mid season replacement "Lalapalooza" were repeats.

To the best of my recollection, what you're describing above sounds like "Archie's Funhouse." Some of that material is on the 4 individual DVDs released through Nostalgia Ventures and sold through Archie Comics, but for some reason those segments are not presented as complete shows, but only short clips under bonus material. I have read that those shows reused material from earlier seasons, so that may be the reason...

Also, to the best of my knowledge, "The Archie/Sabrina Hour" (1977-1978) was a new show, not recycled from earlier seasons. There is one half-hour cut-down from this incarnation (retitled "The Archie/Sabrina Surprise Package") on one of the Nostalgia Ventures DVDs. By the time "The Archie/Sabrina Hour" premiered, the earlier Archie shows had already been syndicated (under the package title "The Archies").

So I'm wondering whether new stuff, with the music and sounds I remembered, was added with the Comedy show, or Funhouse, or TV Funnies.

"Funhouse" featured the Giant Jukebox. That was the show that began with an opening showing the group performing on stage with a live-action audience of kids. They also would cut in live-action audience shots here and there during the shows.

"TV Funnies" is mostly other cartoon characters. The premise is that the Archie characters operate a TV station, and they present shows based on comic strip characters from the funny papers. (Broom Hilda, Nancy & Sluggo, etc.)

There also was a season called "U.S. Of Archie" (1974-1975), gearing up for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, which had storylines set in various eras in early U.S. history.

I knew there must be more to it when the back of the booklet/comic book reprint advertised "LOOK FOR MORE ARCHIE RELEASES COMING TO DVD IN 2008!". So I wonder which one(s) are next. Perhaps the next in order with the Comedy Show? Or will they try to squeeze it all into next year. Perhaps guess a box set would be nice, and they're testing to see if this one sells well.

Based on what they've done so far with other Filmation properties, I would guess they'll do them season by season (it's really one big show, the format just tended to change from one season to the next).

If you can't wait to see some of the other incarnations of the show, check out the four individual DVDs currently available through the Archie comics site. They feature a sampling of the whole run, with examples of "Archie's TV Funnies," "U.S. Of Archie," and "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" (those shows feature an occasional segment with the Archies and/or the Groovy Goolies).

I'm glad to see this stuff available again!

[Eric B]

No offense, but you were kind of overcomplicating the issue. None of the rerun packages (Archie's Comedy Hour, Everything's Archie, The Lalapalooza Show) are a variable here, only the original episodes as they were first seen. I don't know what you mean by "overcomplicating", but it was all like a blur, as to what was what, because it's been so long since I've seen ANY of it! So I was going by what I was reading in different places.
To the best of my recollection, what you're describing above sounds like "Archie's Funhouse." Some of that material is on the 4 individual DVDs released through Nostalgia Ventures and sold through Archie Comics, but for some reason those segments are not presented as complete shows, but only short clips under bonus material. I have read that those shows reused material from earlier seasons, so that may be the reason...

Also, to the best of my knowledge, "The Archie/Sabrina Hour" (1977-1978) was a new show, not recycled from earlier seasons. There is one half-hour cut-down from this incarnation (retitled "The Archie/Sabrina Surprise Package") on one of the Nostalgia Ventures DVDs. By the time "The Archie/Sabrina Hour" premiered, the earlier Archie shows had already been syndicated (under the package title "The Archies").

"Funhouse" featured the Giant Jukebox. That was the show that began with an opening showing the group performing on stage with a live-action audience of kids. They also would cut in live-action audience shots here and there during the shows. I saw the giant Jukebox and the live audience on a YouTube clip not too long ago. But I don't remember that from TV. The opening I remembered was
"The Archies have a surprise today; 'cause Jughead & Reggie
are here to stay; with Veronica, Betty, Big Moose too; just can't
wait, neither can you!...fun, adventure and music too!...". This was probably "Surprise Package". With both a show still on network TV, plus the whow on syndication; it was all blurry, once again, as to which was which. I remember the hispanic kid from the comics, I think, but I don't remember him in the cartoon, or the Archie episodes being new that late. 1978 was the season I really started remembering which shows were on which networks, and by which production company. (I don't even remember Space Sentinels, or the Gilligan aired on ABC until Fall'77. When I realized there were no Filmation shows on ABC that next year, I didn't remember whether any had ever been there).


"TV Funnies" is mostly other cartoon characters. The premise is that the Archie characters operate a TV station, and they present shows based on comic strip characters from the funny papers. (Broom Hilda, Nancy & Sluggo, etc.) That I knew. I remembered the Dick Tracy from way back then, but didn't remember it was apart of an Archie Show, so when I first got the cartoon encyclopedia, I went crazy looking for a Dick Tracy cartoon produced by Filmation from the early 70's. The only Dick Tracy show listed was the 1961 UPA original. Later I found it as apart of Archie's TV Funnies. The other comics I remember from Fabulous Funnies.
I read in one of the descriptions that there were new Archies adventures produced for that show, but I don't remember.


There also was a season called "U.S. Of Archie" (1974-1975), gearing up for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, which had storylines set in various eras in early U.S. history. That I clearly remember. Those were of course all new, and disctince episodes.

I didn't know someone else was putting out DVD's of Archie. Funny, nobody else has mentioned that.

[Prof Ultimate]

^^^ Here's the intro for Archie's TV Funnies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTL6qf8kW1k

Archie's Funhouse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ295QbhAqM

And Everything's Archie, which many of the earlier series ran under in syndication. The Family Channel ran this back in the early 80's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nk-aDgT9MQ&mode=related&search=

And while we're at it, Sabrina's intro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OlL8eIKmc8&mode=related&search=

[Eric B]

Thanks.
And they also had a whole Dick Tracy episode, but practically without sound.

Also, I forgot; I see they have moved this thread. I was going to put it over here, but wasn't sure, since the show isn't on Boomerang (despite the rumors a few weeks ago). They were getting mad at someone for starting threads about other classic shows that were not on Boomerang.

[Mark The Shark]

I didn't know someone else was putting out DVD's of Archie. Funny, nobody else has mentioned that.

http://stuffshop.archiecomics.com/arvish.html

There are four DVDs under the series title "Archie And Friends." Each includes four half-hour episodes from the various Archie series, plus a short chunk of an "Archie's Funhouse" show as an extra:

Vol. 1: "The Archie Show" (Betty & Veronica on the cover)
The Archie Show #9 (Kids' Day/Jughead "Sampson" Jones)*
The Archie Show #3 (Anchors Away/Jughead's Double)
The Archie Show #5 (Flying Saucers/Field Trip aka Picnic)
U.S. Of Archie (The Star Spangled Banner)
(*song and dance segments substituted from another episode)

Vol. 2: "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" (Sabrina on the cover)
Sabrina (The Riverdale Pet Show)
Sabrina (The Riverdale Sea Aquarium)
Sabrina (Sabrina And The Goolies)
U.S. Of Archie (The Day Of The Ladies)

Vol. 3: "Archie's TV Funnies" (Jughead on the cover)
Archie's TV Funnies (Riverdale Grand Prix Auto Race)
Archie's TV Funnies (The Riverdale Air Circus)
Archie's TV Funnies (The Ghost Of Swedlow Swamp)
U.S. Of Archie (The Wright Brothers)

Vol. 4: "Archie's Classic Cartoons" (Archie on the cover)
The Archie Show #10 (Rocket Rock/Par One)
The Archie And Sabrina Surprise Package (Detective Agency)
Archie's TV Funnies (Flying Saucer Mystery)
U.S. Of Archie (The Roughrider)

Hope that helps.

[Eric B]

OK thanks. And I see with episode names involving "Riverdale", the TV Funnies must have included new Archie & the gang stories after all.

[Mark The Shark]

OK thanks. And I see with episode names involving "Riverdale", the TV Funnies must have included new Archie & the gang stories after all.

They do appear, but briefly, with the bulk of the show consisting of these other cartoons. I don't think they even do any songs.

[WindsorBear]

Well, I wrote a nice long message explaining the differences between the Archies first five series on CBS and NBC, but right before I saved it, it disappeared. I'll re-write it later, but in the meantime, since there seems to be some confusion as to what was originally on The Archie Comedy Hour, I'll post this message which was originally a message on my Archie board. This message will explain what was on The Archie Comedy Hour and Archie's Funhouse when they were first shown on CBS, and again when they went into syndication. Here ya go...

The second season Archie show was "The Archie Comedy Hour". The show
began with a Sabrina cartoon. After that, the show went into
the "Funhouse" segment. Within the Funhouse segment was
the "Sideshow". After that, The Archies sang one song (songs on this
show were from the "Everything's Archie" album and the "Jingle
Jangle" album, and contrary to some opinions, this show did NOT have
a dance of the week... they were from the first season show,
the "Archie Show"). After the Funhouse segment completed, another
Sabrina cartoon was shown, and that was the full hour. The Sabrina
cartoons were later used in the "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch" show
that came a couple of seasons later. The Funhouse segments, complete
with Sideshow mini-segment and Archies song was about 30 minutes
long, and could have been a separate show... except they never did
use it for such.

The third season Archie show was "Archie's Funhouse". It was
originally conceived as a 30 minute show, but CBS ran it as a full
hour show because The Archies were still very popular and getting
great ratings on Saturday morning. So to pad it out, "Archie's
Funhouse" included cartoon segments from the original "Archie Show".
Here's how the show ran... (and I still have old audio cassettes of
this show that I recorded when it first ran on Saturday mornings on
CBS to prove it!!!) The show started with a "teaser", and then the
opening credits. This was the only Archie show to start with a
teaser. After the credits and commercials, an older cartoon from
the "Archie Show" was shown. After that, the Funhouse was shown.
Within the Funhouse, were the "How To Get Your Man, Betty's Diary,
Coach Cleat's Big World Of Sports, Thunderbolt Theater, and The Giant
Jukebox" segements, as well as other misc. segments. Three "new"
Archies songs were included in The Giant Jukebox (some of these were
included on the "Sunshine" album). Some of the more popular songs
would be repeated throughout the series. I know "Sunshine" was
played in at least four different episodes, and several of the others
were played at least twice. The "Sideshow" segment was NOT a part of
this series. It was a part of the Funhouse segment from "The Archie
Comedy Hour" only. Anyway, after the Funhouse segment, another old
Archie cartoon from the "Archie Show" was shown. And then after
that, an old "Archie Dance of the Week" and Archies song from
the "Archie Show" was also shown. After that were the closing
credits. So in the original CBS showing of "Archie's Funhouse" you
were getting 30 minutes of new material in the middle, and 30 minutes
of old "Archie Show" material on each end. It made for a very good
show.

When all of this Archie stuff went into syndication in 1977,
everything was chopped up into 30 minute shows, and there were lots
of shows. After all, there were 5 seasons of shows in this package.
When the syndication package ran, a lot of stuff from "The Archie
Comedy Hour" apparently got lost or altered. The Sabrina cartoons
were shown, but most of the Funhouse segments from that show were
not, and the ones that were did NOT contain the original music
segments. Instead, the music animation was shown with dubbed vocals
by Dallas McKennon instead of the songs. I don't know if there were
licensing disputes for those songs or not, but remember that it
was "The Archie Comedy Hour" that had the music segments for their
biggest hits "Sugar, Sugar" and "Jingle Jangle". That is the only
reason I can come up with for the dub overs. Anyway, all of these
different episodes had a new opening title and theme song for the
syndication package.

When the shows finally aired on the Family Channel And Odyssey, the
original opening titles and theme songs were brought back, but there
seemed to be some confusion as to what was what. A lot of
the "Funhouse" segments that were originally from "The Archie Comedy
Hour" were being shown as episodes of "Archie's Funhouse". How can
you tell which is a "real" Archie's Funhouse" episode? Easy... every
episode of "Archie's Funhouse" started with Archie on stage saying "
Welcome to Archie's Funhouse, featuring the Giant Jukebox". If the
show does not start with that, then it is a Funhouse segment
from "The Archie Comedy Hour". These are the ones that will have
the "Sideshow" segments. Betty's Diary appeared in both shows. I'm
pretty sure Big Ethel's segments were only on "Archie's Funhouse" but
I could be wrong. Also, there is no Sabrina in the "Archie's
Funhouse" segments. A couple of jokes showed her in the background,
but she never spoke. If you see skits that have Sabrina speaking or
showing how to do a magic trick, the it is a Funhouse segment from
the "Archie Comedy Hour".

28 of the songs from "Archie's Funhouse" were not included on any of
the Archies albums. Archies fans have always had to record the songs
from the show to hear them. Unfortunately, that also included
applause and sound effects bites during the songs. However, when the
show aired on the Odyssey channel, many of the "Archie's Funhouse"
segments had the beginning and ending applause during the songs
removed. How they got ahold of masters without the applause effects
is a mystery, but it does very much help in getting more quality
recordings of the songs. I was able to hear the intros to many of
the songs for the first time.

"Archie's Funhouse" was slightly changed in that the theme song is
shown first, and the original "teaser" is made a part of the show.
But that is how it was originally supposed to be anyhow. Only when
CBS originally broadcast the show did they show the first part as a
teaster and then the opening titles. The Funhouse segments of
the "Archie Comedy Hour" still don't have the music segments, and I
fear they have been lost forever. Only the "Sugar, Sugar" segment
with Sabrina running a kissing booth seems to have surfaced. This is
a shame because I remember the song "Nursery Rhyme" having a
different intro from the one that appeared on the "Jingle Jangle"
album, and I would love to hear the TV version of it again. Also
missing is the theme from the "Archie Comedy Hour" The theme would
start by spelling out ARCHIE one letter at a time, and then
saying "Featuring Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", spelling out SABRINA,
saying "the Teenage Witch again", and then spelling out ARCHIE again,
and then shouting out "It's the Archie Comedy Hour" twice.

[Eric B]

Thanks for all the info!
(was the one that was lost longer than that?)

I guess I'm not sure what "Funhouse" (before the added the jukebox) and "Sideshow" are. Were those comedy sketches as well? Which one had them telling corny jokes and (at least in some episodes) getting hit with pies? And is the second season the one that introduced the familiar music and the horn blasts at jokes and gags? It just ain't the Archies I remember without all of that. Yes, it seems everything was jumbled up later on, so I do not know what was what.
remember that it
was "The Archie Comedy Hour" that had the music segments for their
biggest hits "Sugar, Sugar" and "Jingle Jangle". That was going to be another question, because I notice "Sugar "Sugar" is not on the first season DVD.

[WindsorBear]

The stuff that you are thinking of is from the third season show "Archie's Funhouse". It included "Big Ethels' How To Get Your Man", "Coach Cleat's Big World of Sports", "Betty's Diary", "Thunderbolt Theater", "Giant Jukebox", and lots of other mini-segments, along with pies being thrown, one-liners from Hot Dog, and just lots of fun stuff in the vein of the old NBC "Laugh-In" show from the 60's.

The second season show "The Archie Comedy Hour" had a weekly "funhouse" segment in it that was very similar to "Archie's Funhouse", and was the basis for the "Archie's Funhouse" show. Because they are so similar, that is why some of the "funhouse" segments from "Comedy Hour" have been shown as episodes of "Archie's Funhouse" in syndication, minus the music segment.

It will be interesting to see if Genius Entertainment can come up with the complete "funhouse" segments from "Comedy Hour", including the "side show" mini segments and the music segments. I would also love to hear the theme song to "The Archie Comedy Hour" again as it has not been shown since it's original CBS showing in 1969/70. But since the Sabrina cartoon segments will probably be released using a Sabrina title, I seriously doubt that the original format of "Comedy Hour" will ever be released.

I'm going to try to re-write the post that explained what I remember about all of the Archie series. I used to have cassette tapes of many of them, but only a few cassettes of the original "Archie's Funhouse" showings on CBS have survived over the years. However, they are interesting because they include the "In The Know" segments by Josie and the Pussycats that appeared hourly. This would later be changed to CBS News "In The News".

[Eric B]

Oh, wow! I remembered "In the News", but never that it was once a segment wihh Josie. Also, it's like Josie was reunited with the rest of the Archies in those segments after all. (they were still by HB, right?)

I still don't know what were the "Thunderbolt Theater" and "Sideshow" segments.

Again, the back of the DVD case promises more of the Archies stuff is supposed to be released next year. We can always ask Andy Mangels if the shows can be put back into their formats. His page is www.andymangels.com (http://www.andymangels.com), and you can contact him from there.

[dth1971]

Oh, wow! I remembered "In the News", but never that it was once a segment wihh Josie. Also, it's like Josie was reunited with the rest of the Archies in those segments after all. (they were still by HB, right?)



Some In The Know 1970-1971 segments on CBS also featured other CBS Saturday Morning cartoon stars of the time such as Sabrina, Archie, The Groovie Goolies, and the Harlem Globetrotters; not just Josie and the Pussycats.

[Mark The Shark]

Some In The Know 1970-1971 segments on CBS also featured other CBS Saturday Morning cartoon stars of the time such as Sabrina, Archie, The Groovie Goolies, and the Harlem Globetrotters; not just Josie and the Pussycats.

For some reason, I don't remember that at all...but I do remember that when CBS was running "In The News," it would fill in the half-hour or hour after a show: after the closing credits ended, there would be a brief intro segment with the characters from that show, inviting viewers to stay tuned for "In The News." Then the "In The News" segment aired.

I remember repeats of "The Three Robonic Stooges" airing on Sunday mornings as late as 1981, still followed by "In The News," with the intro segment featuring the Stooges.

[WindsorBear]

Some In The Know 1970-1971 segments on CBS also featured other CBS Saturday Morning cartoon stars of the time such as Sabrina, Archie, The Groovie Goolies, and the Harlem Globetrotters; not just Josie and the Pussycats.

Afraid not. The original showings of "In The Know" was a Hanna Barbera thing, and Josie and the Pussycats were the sole presenter. The rest of the Archie characters were put out by Filmation. These clips should still survive somewhere... probably within Ted Turner's warehouse somewhere.

The only animation that was shown was the opening and closing sequences of the clips. The actual clip was live action of what was being talked about with narration by Janet Waldo and the rest of the Josie voice crew.

The opening sequence was... "Hey, hey, beat the drum. We're gonna have fun. We're groovy cats on the go. With things to see, and places to be, we're groovy cats In The Know."

The closing spoken by Josie was.. "This is Josie. The Pussycats will be on the go with another In The Know in an hour; so stay with us gang."

All this remembering is making my head hurt.

[Mark The Shark]

Afraid not. The original showings of "In The Know" was a Hanna Barbera thing, and Josie and the Pussycats were the sole presenter. The rest of the Archie characters were put out by Filmation. These clips should still survive somewhere... probably within Ted Turner's warehouse somewhere.

I wouldn't count on that. Did you see the Huckleberry Hound DVD, by chance?

Not trying to be flippant or rain on anyone's parade, but by all accounts, Hanna-Barbera stuff in particular has not been archived well. I would not assume those segments exist, especially since they would have been produced specifically for airing on CBS...and one of the main criteria for saving this kind of stuff seems to be to use it again, particularly in syndication and international distribution. (Neither would apply to "In The Know.")

I would LOVE to be wrong about this, though! (Maybe we'll see when the Josie DVD comes out, since that would be the logical place for those segments.)

[WindsorBear]

Hanna-Barbera stuff in particular has not been archived well. I would not assume those segments exist, especially since they would have been produced specifically for airing on CBS...and one of the main criteria for saving this kind of stuff seems to be to use it again, particularly in syndication and international distribution. (Neither would apply to "In The Know.")

Can't argue with that. Who knows... since Kellogg's was the sponsor of the segments, maybe they have access to the clips. I would hate to think that they have been trashed, but that is always possible. Just like the music segments from "The Archie Comedy Hour". The only one to surface since their last showing on CBS in 1973 (on the "Everything's Archie" show) has been the "Sugar, Sugar" segment. Where are the other 16? Since they were overdubbed for the 1977 syndication package, makes me think the originals don't exist anymore. I would REALLY HATE to find out that is true.

[Eric B]

The other hope is that people had taped this stuff and kept it. There is already a lot of such forgotten stuff on You Tube.

[Mister Intensity]

The other hope is that people had taped this stuff and kept it. There is already a lot of such forgotten stuff on You Tube.

I've been watching a lot of the forgotten stuff on You Tube and they're great. Bumpers for various shows, alternate or "lost" opening credits (I love the alternate Shazzan opening credits more than the one usually shown), etc. You would think that the various companies releasing these DVDs would get in touch with fans who saved or found stuff over the years but I get the sense they don't even want to make the effort.

Mister Intensity

[dth1971]

Speaking of "In The Know": In 1971 CBS replaced the "In The Know" animated hosts of Josie and the Pussycats with voice over by CBS news correspondent Christopher Glenn with a new title - "In The News".

[WindsorBear]

Speaking of "In The Know": In 1971 CBS replaced the "In The Know" animated hosts of Josie and the Pussycats with voice over by CBS news correspondent Christopher Glenn with a new title - "In The News".

Not only that, they also changed the content of the show. "In The Know" showed various places in the world, historical things, modern wonders, etc. There was background music playing while the different places or items were being shown and discussed. "In the News" showed items that were currently newsworthy to the young generation, so it was kind of like a video 'Current Events' done in a news format.

For entertainment value, "In The Know" won hands down. I found all their segments interesting. As for "In The News", well... I would use that time to go to the bathroom or fix a sandwich. :evil:

[Mark The Shark]

Can't argue with that. Who knows... since Kellogg's was the sponsor of the segments, maybe they have access to the clips. I would hate to think that they have been trashed, but that is always possible. Just like the music segments from "The Archie Comedy Hour". The only one to surface since their last showing on CBS in 1973 (on the "Everything's Archie" show) has been the "Sugar, Sugar" segment. Where are the other 16? Since they were overdubbed for the 1977 syndication package, makes me think the originals don't exist anymore. I would REALLY HATE to find out that is true.

I read a horror story a few years ago that when Hallmark owned the Filmation library, they made video masters for international syndication and then trashed all the original film elements. I saw the syndicated "The Archies" shows in the mid-1970s, but the only redubbing I specifically remember was on the openings and closings. All the half-hours (regardless of whether it was an "Archie Show," or a "TV Funnies," or a "U.S. Of Archie," or whatever) had the same opening title, which was a redubbed "Archie's Funhouse" opening with Dallas McKennon as Archie doing what I would very loosely describe as a kind of a rap, or at least rap-like...cutting back to the audience of kids who would respond "The Archies! The Archies!" (Sorry, I remember no other words from it.) As I recall, the closing credits of the various shows had the original visuals from the season in question, but had some instrumental piece of music dubbed over. So are you saying they did the same thing with actual songs within the shows? I don't remember that at all. I do remember hearing songs like "One Big Family" (which is on the "Sunshine" album), and I do specificially remember hearing that song in the syndicated half-hours (somewhere...which specific episode, who knows). If there was redubbing on the actual music segments, this could be reconstructed IF the song in question was released on an album or single...if not, then we'd be out of luck. I do remember that the "U.S. Of Archie" songs were performed by a different group altogether, and it's not Ron Dante singing. In fact, the singer did post a few times over at the Steve Hoffman Music Forums. Unfortunately, at the moment I don't recall his name. (Dante and co. were evidently out of the Archies picture by 1974.) I think the same group did the later Archie/Sabrina shows too (the NBC ones from 1977-1978).

[Prof Ultimate]

I read a horror story a few years ago that when Hallmark owned the Filmation library, they made video masters for international syndication and then trashed all the original film elements.
I thought that horror story came during the Lorelal ownership period. They're the ones who stabbed Scheimer in the back (and the front, and the sides...) when they re-signed his contract promising they wouldn't close the studio, then shut it down...

I saw the syndicated "The Archies" shows in the mid-1970s, but the only redubbing I specifically remember was on the openings and closings. All the half-hours (regardless of whether it was an "Archie Show," or a "TV Funnies," or a "U.S. Of Archie," or whatever) had the same opening title, which was a redubbed "Archie's Funhouse" opening with Dallas McKennon as Archie doing what I would very loosely describe as a kind of a rap, or at least rap-like...cutting back to the audience of kids who would respond "The Archies! The Archies!" (Sorry, I remember no other words from it.) More partial lyrics...
Everybody's got the Archies' groove
here comes Sabrina on her broom..
And there's her friend, Salem the cat
Sabrina and her friends know where it's at...
It that Archie feeling that feels so fine
(1 more line I can't recall rhyming with 'fine' followed by the kids yelling the refrain)
"The Archies! The Archies!"


Ain't nostalgia grand.... :sweat:

[WindsorBear]

You're both correct on all respects. Geez... just remembering that cheezy Dal McKennon voiced opening on the syndicated package makes me cringe. And that closing theme that just played the same notes over and over and over. I had it recorded on cassette, but can't find the dang tape. I guess it's for the best.

The over-dubs were only on the music segments from Comedy Hour, and I'm not even sure you can call them that. The Archie Comedy Hour was broken down into 30 minute shows for syndication. Some shows contained two Sabrina segments that were originally on Comedy Hour. Some shows showed the Funhouse and Side Show segments from Comedy Hour. On the original Comedy Hour, right after the Side Show segment, The Archies would play a song with the animation sometimes tied into the theme of the Funhouse segment (hence, Sabrina running a kissing booth for the Riverdale High School carnival in the Sugar, Sugar song segment. The Funhouse segment for that show had pieces that all had to do with the gang getting the carnival ready). These songs were from half of the Everything's Archie album, and most of the Jingle Jangle album. These were from The Archies most successful period, and included Sugar, Sugar, Jingle Jangle, Get On The Line, Senorita Rita, Melody Hill, and others. In the syndicated shows, a music segment was NOT included in the shows that showed the Funhouse and Side Show segments from Comedy Hour. However, a song WAS sometimes included in the shows that showed the two Sabrina segments. However, the animation for the song was a mish-mash of animation from many sources including the original animation for the song. Why they just didn't leave the animation as it was is a mystery. But the biggest mystery is that the songs were now some "new" spoken songs voiced by Dallas McKennon with music provided by WHO KNOWS!! And.. if that wasn't enough.. these new spoken songs were later released on an album titled "Drive The Boulevard" and listed as being by The Archies. Thankfully, the album is VERY, VERY scarce.

So, the question remains... do the original animated music segments with the original songs from Comedy Hour still exist??? I don't even know if all the Funhouse and Side Show segments from Comedy Hour still exist. I'm assuming they do. Unfortunately, since their content is similar to the format of the third season "Archie's Funhouse" show, they will probably be released to DVD under that title. I seriously doubt that Genius Entertainment or ClassicMedia, or whomever is reconstructing these episodes will take the time to reconstruct "The Archie Comedy Hour featuring Sabrina the Teenage Witch" as it originally was broadcast on CBS in 1969/70. If so, they would first have to find the original opening and closing themes and animation which have not been shown since their original 69/70 CBS airings. Then each show would consist of an original Sabrina segment, then the Funhouse segment, then the Side Show segment, then the music segment, and finally another Sabrina segment. Right before the music segment, and I can't believe I remember this, there is a bump between commericals with animation and The Archies singing a song that goes "The Archies are going to sing for you. The Archies are going to dance some too. We're gonna laugh it up, hep, hep.... hep, hep, hep. In just one minute, yeah!" Now... what are the chances that THAT still exists. Probably about the same as the chances that the opening and closing themes still exist.

The rest of the shows were pretty much untouched in the syndication package, except for the opening and closing themes changed over to the syndicated theme. "Archie's Funhouse" was taken down to a 30 minute show for syndication, which was fine since the original one hour CBS airings of Archie's Funhouse included 30 minutes of old material from The Archie Show, and 30 minutes of new material made for Archie's Funhouse. I still don't know if it was Filmation's idea or CBS' idea to stretch Archie's Funhouse out to an hour format using old and new stuff. For those that dont' remember, here's how it went.... the show started off with a teaser, with Archie saying "Welcome to Archie's Funhouse, featuring the Giant Jukebox". Teaser continued, and THEN the opening theme came up. This was the only Archie show to show a teaser before the opening theme. However, in all of the showings of Archie's Funhouse since the original CBS airings, the theme has been put in front of the teaser. Oh well. Anyway... after the theme, an old segment was shown from "The Archie Show". After that, the new stuff continued, usually starting with "Big Ethel's How To Get Your Man". It continued on, and then came "Thunderbolt Theater, with Quick Drippy Gags", and finally, "The Giant Jukebox" segments that included jokes about music, and THREE Archies songs. After the last song, another old segment from The Archie Show was shown, and then finally, an old Dance of The Week with associated song, again from The Archie Show, was shown. Then the closing credits. Special quarter hour and half hour bumps were created and sung by Ron Dante in between the commercials... one of them went... "Hang around we've got stuff to show you...on Archie's Funhouse. Archie's Giant Jukebox, oh Yeah... on Archie's Funhouse. Hang around, hang around... HANG AROUND!"

As for US of Archie, I also can't remember the name of the guy that provided the vocals for the "new" Archies. I remember reading a few months back an interview he did for someone. Some of the songs on US of Archie were good, but for all practical purposes, The Archies, for me, will always be Ron Dante, Toni Wine, Donna Marie, Jeff Barry, and the other voices that popped up in their songs from 1968 thru 1972.

And who out there remembers the white unisex jumpsuits that were put on The Archies for the New Archie/Sabrina Hour in 1977???? Whose idea was that??? Who did the singing? Who did the playing? And whose idea was it to NOT have any lip movements on any of the group members during the singing anymore? Talk about a cost-cutting move at Filmation!!!!! And to clear up one little myth about that show.... that was NOT a re-run show. New segments were created for that show. Some have shown up over the years on VHS tapes. I remember one called "Archie's Millions". I think another was called "Sabrina's Surprise Package". Anyway, by this time, Filmation was using the standard background music for the Archie shows, with no laugh track, and sub-par animation. It is no wonder that the New Archie/Sabrina Show failed, and also why it's separation into The Bang-Shang-A-Lollapallooza Show and Super Witch also failed. The Archie franchise had been tinkered with one too many times.

In my opinion, the Archie franchise was at it's peak during the first three seasons. "The Archie Show", "The Archie Comedy Hour" and "Archie's Funhouse" were the best of the lot. They had the original Archies music group going for them as well. "Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies" in 1970 also added to the fun, although I don't think The Groovie Goolies album on RCA sold very well. And then Josie and the Pussycats, another Archie creation, although Hanna-Barbera got the contract for that one, also was in the mix in 1970 as well. Their album on Capitol also didn't do well, but it sure is collectible today. So in 1970, you had three Archie related shows showing on CBS on Saturday mornings. Saturday morning ratings were going through the roof.

But, in 1971, the music group Archies had severed ties with the TV Archies, so there was no music in the fourth season show "Archie's TV Funnies". Filmation and Don Kirshner could not come to terms. The show was cut back to 30 minutes, and most of the show centered on other characters instead of the Archies. Strangely enough, this was the first Archie show to last two seasons, as it was shown in the 1971/72 and 1972/73 seasons. As for Sabrina, I can't remember which season that CBS started showing her old "Comedy Hour" segments under the "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" title. I'm thinking it was 72/73. I know in 1973, Filmation came out with "Everything's Archie" which was a 30 minute re-run show. It showed old segments from Comedy Hour and The Archie Show, and was the VERY LAST time that the music segments from Comedy Hour were broadcast on TV. It had an interesting opening theme in that they took the original opening theme animation from The Archie Show and gave it a new song. The singer sounded a LOT like Ron Dante, but it was not him. The song went "Here comes Archie, uh huh. Here comes Betty, Veronica too. Here's comes Reggie, uh huh. And you know Jughead will be there too. We're gonna have a real good time cause Sabrina will join us too. Everything's Archie." And then it repeats. I actually found an MP3 of this theme on the internet a while back and have it on my hard drive somewhere. We asked Ron if he did the vocals for it, and he said no.

One last bit of trivia, and then I'll close this very long post. We all know that the Groovie Goolies started on the "Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies" show on CBS in 1970/71. Eventually, Sabrina and the Goolies split up into separate shows, each show mostly showing reruns from their previous shows. Everybody knows the Goolies theme song "Goolie Get Together" which goes, "Everybody Shout. Come on now, Sing Out. It's time for the Goolies Get Together". Well, on the original show, instead of them singing "It's time for the Goolies Get Together", the lyrics went "It's time for Sabrina and the Goolies". Just thought I'd throw that one in there while I still remembered it.

I'm done now.

[Mister Intensity]

Nice retrospective. This is the type of thing I come on this board for.

Thanks,
Mister Intensity

[WindsorBear]

I've got one little gripe about the new Archie Show remastering on DVD... I've noticed that during the opening theme of the shows, the first note of the theme song "Everything's Archie" kinda just fades in. This is not how it originally was. That first note should have been loud and strong. And since they apparently used the same copy of the theme song for all 17 shows in the DVD set, they all have a weak lead-in.

And... did anyone else notice in the booklet the little blurb for the song "Hide and Seek"??... "Note: Due to a loss of original film elements, the Dance and Song segments of this episode have been presented from a video transfer. While the quality is not as high as on other episodes, it is presented here to provide the complete episode."

LOSS OF ORIGINAL FILM ELEMENTS??? ARGHHHH!!! C'mon people. The Archie franchise was one of the most successful cartoon series ever on Saturday morning TV. It created record breaking ratings and set new standards for what would be shown on Saturday mornings in the late 60's and 70's. It pretty much brought Filmation out of obscurity and made it a rival to be reckoned with for Hanna-Barbera. All of the film elements for this franchise should have been carefully stored and preserved. And anyone that bought out Filmation should have seen to it too. Very, very careless. I'm just glad that they were able to find a decent video transfer for "Hide and Seek".

And poor Lou's interview on the Bonus section... you could tell that his memory of some of the Archie stuff had long since gone. Especially when he made the statement that the combination of live action and animation was done on The Archie Comedy Hour. Afraid not Lou.... that was Archie's Funhouse that did that. But he did deliver the interview in a very interesting and humorous way... I think the fly stole the show!!

I was also very happy to see the booklet made up to be a replication of the first "Everything's Archie" comic book from 1969. "Everything's Archie was sort of a comic book response to the success of The Archie Show, and made a great addition to the Archie Comics line-up. In addition, "Archie's T.V. Laugh-Out" was the response to the success of The Archie Comedy Hour. Originally, the format of that comic book mimicked the format of the TV Series. The comic book would start off with a Sabrina story, and then many many pages of one liner or one page gags. A Sabrina magic trick would also be included. And then more stories later... usually endding with another Sabrina story. Of course, the format of the comic book changed over the years, and it eventually became a showcase for the Archie band and the Josie and the Pussycats band, with maybe a Sabrina story thrown in as well.

And just to re-emphasize... this is NOT the first time the original Archie Show material has made it to home media, although it is the first time that it has been made available "completely". Thorn/EMI/HBO released 4 volumes of Archie Show material on BETA/VHS tapes back in the early 80's. Embassy Home Video released 3 volumes of Sabrina cartoons that were originally from The Archie Comedy Hour back in the 80's as well. And only three years ago, Nostalgia Ventures, in conjunction with Archie Comics, released 4 DVDs of Archie stuff. One DVD was segments from The Archie Show. One DVD was segments of Sabrina cartoons and contained segments from both "Comedy Hour" and "Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies." Another DVD was a mixture, and included segments from The Archie Show, and an episode called "Archie & Sabrina Surprise Package" which I am pretty sure originally came from the New Archie/Sabrina Hour on NBC in 1977. An episode of Archie's TV Funnies is also included. The last DVD contains episodes of Archie's TV Funnies. Also, every DVD included an episode of US of Archie, and, without bothering to check and going from memory alone, I'm going to say that every DVD included Bonus material that said it was from "Archie's Funhouse" but was actually instead "funhouse" segements from "The Archie Comedy Hour". However, they used an Archie's Funhouse opening and closing theme for these, which royally irked me. According to the Archie Comics website, these DVDs from Nostaliga Ventures are still available for purchase from the Archie Comics site.

And I've rambled on too long again. To quote the red man.... "END".

[Mark The Shark]

I've got one little gripe about the new Archie Show remastering on DVD... I've noticed that during the opening theme of the shows, the first note of the theme song "Everything's Archie" kinda just fades in. This is not how it originally was. That first note should have been loud and strong. And since they apparently used the same copy of the theme song for all 17 shows in the DVD set, they all have a weak lead-in.

I noticed that too, and that also disappointed me. Happily, a clean version is on the Nostalgia Ventures DVDs.

And... did anyone else notice in the booklet the little blurb for the song "Hide and Seek"??... "Note: Due to a loss of original film elements, the Dance and Song segments of this episode have been presented from a video transfer. While the quality is not as high as on other episodes, it is presented here to provide the complete episode."

That was just weird. The segment looks to me like it may have been copied from a previous video release of that episode (possibly the old Thorn-EMI ones?) or maybe even taped from cable TV showings in relatively recent times. For the record, the episode in question was included in the Nostalgia Ventures DVDs, with a different middle segment.


Thorn/EMI/HBO released 4 volumes of Archie Show material on BETA/VHS tapes back in the early 80's. Embassy Home Video released 3 volumes of Sabrina cartoons that were originally from The Archie Comedy Hour back in the 80's as well. And only three years ago, Nostalgia Ventures, in conjunction with Archie Comics, released 4 DVDs of Archie stuff. One DVD was segments from The Archie Show. One DVD was segments of Sabrina cartoons and contained segments from both "Comedy Hour" and "Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies." Another DVD was a mixture, and included segments from The Archie Show, and an episode called "Archie & Sabrina Surprise Package" which I am pretty sure originally came from the New Archie/Sabrina Hour on NBC in 1977. An episode of Archie's TV Funnies is also included. The last DVD contains episodes of Archie's TV Funnies. Also, every DVD included an episode of US of Archie, and, without bothering to check and going from memory alone, I'm going to say that every DVD included Bonus material that said it was from "Archie's Funhouse" but was actually instead "funhouse" segements from "The Archie Comedy Hour". However, they used an Archie's Funhouse opening and closing theme for these, which royally irked me. According to the Archie Comics website, these DVDs from Nostaliga Ventures are still available for purchase from the Archie Comics site.

The copies of the Thorn/EMI tapes I saw (I rented them many years ago) had a 1978 copyright on the covers.

So what's the deal with those "Archie's Funhouse" (sorry, Comedy Hour) clips on the NV DVDs? This is confusing to me. Are those segments identifiable as to what episode they come from, and what else was in that episode? I managed to completely miss the Archie series run on the Family Channel some years ago...I never even knew about it and if I had known about it, I would have been recording them. I probably missed it because FAM had been showing "The New Archies" (which I paid no attention to whatsoever) and maybe the "classic" shows were part of that package and may have even been listed as "The New Archies" in TV listings? (I never had the Hallmark channel when they ran on there.) Did FAM or Hallmark air those shows? Were they in the form of some re-edited half-hour version? What else would have been in there? I am assuming that since NM only included those short segments as "bonus features," then whatever else was in the show (from whatever source material they were using) was duplicated in other episodes?

I'm glad to have the "Funhouse" opening and closing (with the original audio), even if it's the wrong intro for those segments...at least it's there.

[Mark The Shark]

I just re-read your post above with the breakdown of the Comedy Hours. That makes sense. As I recall, all of the short clips on the Nostalgia Venture DVDs are the Funhouse segments (from The Archie Comedy Hour). Reading all this over again, I do indeed have a hazy memory of at least one music segment in the syndicated shows (which aired on WGN-Channel 9 in Chicago) which had Dal McKennon as Archie just talking over it. (I never, ever see 16mm prints of the syndicated "Archies" episodes on ebaY. I'd love to track some down.) So I guess my question still is...did that material air on Family Channel or Hallmark, and was it in the same format as in the 1970s syndicated package? (I got some VHS dubs of some of the Archie shows aired on FAM through trading with another collector some years back. I haven't watched them in years and don't really know where they are at the moment, but I do remember being surprised to see many of the various original show openings and closings, especially since these were all airing together as one package. Gotta give them points for that, at least.)

[WindsorBear]

So I guess my question still is...did that material air on Family Channel or Hallmark, and was it in the same format as in the 1970s syndicated package? (I got some VHS dubs of some of the Archie shows aired on FAM through trading with another collector some years back. I haven't watched them in years and don't really know where they are at the moment, but I do remember being surprised to see many of the various original show openings and closings, especially since these were all airing together as one package. Gotta give them points for that, at least.)

When The Archies were airing on FAM, I don't recall any material from "Comedy Hour" being shown. Mostly, it was episodes of "The Archie Show" and the 30 minute version of "Archie's Funhouse". I was able to tape several episodes of FAM on Beta tape, but alas... my Beta player has seen better days... at least until I can find someone to replace all the belts and grippers inside.

I never got the Hallmark channel, or Odyssey. I have been told in the past that the funhouse segments of "Comedy Hour" were airing using the "Archie's Funhouse" opening and closing credits. While I detest them doing that, it would make sense since there is no other opening and closing credits to use for those episodes. Even if they still have it, which I doubt, they are not going to use "The Archie Comedy Hour" credits for a half hour show.

The song "Hide and Seek" was not on any of the Thorn/EMI/HBO tapes. Not sure where they got their video transfer from, but I am glad they found it.

I've got to believe that there is at least one more music segment from "Comedy Hour" out there somewhere. Both the "Sugar, Sugar" and "Jingle Jangle" segments were shown on the Ed Sullivan show in 1970. Both segments were also played in a prime-time Archie special on CBS in 1970. The "Sugar, Sugar" segment has turned up several times on YouTube, most notably a nice clean one that shows it was taken from VH1. It includes the dialog from Mr. Weatherbee before the song starts, and both Betty and Veronica asking Sabrina to man the kissing booth while they play their song. Archie then announces the song as their new hit record, "Sugar, Sugar" (I believe the dialog was altered from the first time it was shown on Comedy Hour... the first time it was shown on Comedy Hour, I'm pretty sure it was not a hit record yet. I believe they altered it for the second showing. Listen to Dal McKennon's voice and watch the lip animation. Filmation has always been pretty good with drawing the lip animation to what was being said. However, the lip animation did not match up to the words "hit record".) ANYWAY... I DIGRESS... since the "Jingle Jangle" segment was shown on Ed Sullivan and in a prime time special... just like "Sugar, Sugar" was, it would be logical to assume that the "Jingle Jangle" segment is out there somewhere. Of course, I would like to believe that all 17 music segments from "Comedy Hour" are still available in the vaults that contain all the Archie stuff on whatever media it is being stored on... but then again, I would also like to believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

I would especially like the music segment to "Nursery Rhyme" to be found, as the music intro to that song on the show was different than the intro on the "Jingle Jangle" album. That has always stuck in my head as I remember buying the album in 1970 and being surprised that the intro was different.

Anyone wanting to see the VH1 clip of "Sugar, Sugar" on YouTube, click here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOdClP5JFE8)

Anyone wanting to explore more into The Archies Discography can check out my Archies site by clicking here (http://www.geocities.com/windsor_bear/archies.html). It is still a work in progress though.

[A.Magik]

I've seen the 'Sugar Sugar' segment a lot on Youtube (come to think of it, I'll watch it again after this). It was pretty surprising seeing the original Sabrina after years of the Hart Sisters. A memorable sequence.

Anyway, is this segment on the DVD set or is there copyright issues?

A.Magik

[WindsorBear]

I've seen the 'Sugar Sugar' segment a lot on Youtube (come to think of it, I'll watch it again after this). It was pretty surprising seeing the original Sabrina after years of the Hart Sisters. A memorable sequence.

Anyway, is this segment on the DVD set or is there copyright issues?

The "Sugar, Sugar" segment is from the 1969/70 season show "The Archie Comedy Hour". The DVD set only contains episodes of the 1968/69 show "The Archie Show". Hopefully the people that put out this DVD set will put out another DVD set containing the material from "The Archie Comedy Hour" and another set containing the material from "Archie's Funhouse" which ran during the 1970/71 season.

[Mandouga]

I've got one little gripe about the new Archie Show remastering on DVD... I've noticed that during the opening theme of the shows, the first note of the theme song "Everything's Archie" kinda just fades in. This is not how it originally was. That first note should have been loud and strong. And since they apparently used the same copy of the theme song for all 17 shows in the DVD set, they all have a weak lead-in.

I noticed that as well. However, for me, I noticed something else.

You see, I have my own "little gripe" about the DVDs. This release, like many (but not all) of BCI's Filmation releases, suffers from the "PAL speedup" issue, resulting in the pitch being a 1/2 step higher then it was originally. The theme song was in the key of C originally, but sounds like it's in C#. As a result, I have to watch this on my PC using WinDVD's ability to adjust the pitch, so I can watch this show in its correct pitch.

As I'm sure you can tell, I'm one of those people who's bothered by the pitch issue. It's a good thing I have WinDVD, otherwise this would have been totally unwatchable. While I don't expect any sympathy from anyone here, I must emphasize that that's just the way it is for me.

Incidentally, when I saw this show on the old Odyssey Channel, I always wondered why I never saw Sugar Sugar in this show. Now, I know why; that didn't come until Archie's Comedy Hour.

EDIT: Oh yeah. I just remembered something. I think we need to be lucky that this show is on DVD at all. Remember how American Greetings wouldn't allow the Get Along Gang to be released on DVD? It was reportedly because they had the final say on the matter. In my informed opinion, I think it was the same case here. One word from Archie Comics, and Genius would never have been able to release this. The reproduction of the comic where the gang visits Filmation, plus the advertising for Archie comic books (not to mention the extensive use of the original comic artwork on the packaging and disc art) makes this especially apparent (sp?).

[WindsorBear]

You see, I have my own "little gripe" about the DVDs. This release, like many (but not all) of BCI's Filmation releases, suffers from the "PAL speedup" issue, resulting in the pitch being a 1/2 step higher then it was originally. The theme song was in the key of C originally, but sounds like it's in C#. As a result, I have to watch this on my PC using WinDVD's ability to adjust the pitch, so I can watch this show in its correct pitch.

You're not the only one that has noticed this, but I thought it was maybe my players. I bought a new player the same day that my Archie DVD set arrived. It was the first thing I put on the player. I screamed when I heard the audio... Ron Dante sounded like Mickey Mouse. I took the DVD out and tried it on the DVD player that is built in the TV in the bedroom. Better, but still fast. I then tried the DVD player in the PC. Better, but still not perfect. So, I attributed it to sloppy mastering. I didn't even think out the masters being in PAL format. Thanks for bringing this to light.

As I'm sure you can tell, I'm one of those people whose bothered by the pitch issue. It's a good thing I have WinDVD, otherwise this would have been totally unwatchable. While I don't expect any sympathy from anyone here, I must emphasize that that's just the way it is for me.

You have sympathy from me. I know the pitch situation only too well. A few years ago, the "Everything's Archie" album was released on CD on the RKO Unique label. It was a collaberation between Ron Dante and the label. I was thrilled to get a copy of it. Everything sounded fantastic, except... the pitch. The songs were slighly slower in pitch than what was on the vinyl albums. I brought this up in many forums, only to be told either... 1)there was something wrong with my CD player; 2)it was all in my head... the pitch was fine; 3)the vinyl was actually mastered too fast because Don Kirshner liked his releases to be fast, and the CD had the "real" pitch from the masters. Fine... no matter what the "reason"... the pitch of the CD was slower than the vinyl and I was detecting it. After all, I had only been playing the vinyl album for over 30 years, so I was pretty sure I knew what I was talking about.

So yeah buddy... I do sympathize with you on this. And I thank you for it at the same time for proving that it's not "all in my head". Also, thanks for the WinDVD tip that it has pitch control. I did not know this, and will definately be checking it out now.

Incidentally, when I saw this show on the old Odyssey Channel, I always wondered why I never saw Sugar Sugar in this show. Now, I know why; that didn't come until Archie's Comedy Hour.

Many people have asked about this on different forums. I guess a lot of people don't remember "The Archie Comedy Hour". I have always been a huge fan of The Archies, so I kept up with what songs were on what shows. And while I was at it, I pretty much tried to keep up with the format of the shows. I've pretty much got the first three seasons memorized as to how their format went, and what was included. However, when "Archie's TV Funnies" came out, I sort of lost interest and really did not keep up with it, or with "US of Archie." I only saw a couple of episodes of "The New Archie/Sabrina Hour" on NBC in 1977, and decided it was a lost cause, so I didn't keep up with it either.

Oh yeah. I just remembered something. I think we need to be lucky that this show is on DVD at all. Remember how American Greetings wouldn't allow the Get Along Gang to be released on DVD? It was reportedly because they had the final say on the matter. In my informed opinion, I think it was the same case here. One word from Archie Comics, and Genius would never have been able to release this. The reproduction of the comic where the gang visits Filmation, plus the advertising for Archie comic books (not to mention the extensive use of the original comic artwork on the packaging and disc art) makes this especially apparent (sp?).

Can't argue with this at all. In fact, the Nostagia Ventures DVDs had quite a bit of Archie Comics artwork and ad blurbs on it as well. The Archie franchise has always seemed to have "issues" when being released to home formats is concerned. Almost 40 years since their original vinyl issues, and we're still waiting for all of The Archies albums to be released on CD. I've been told their are licensing disputes. So far, only the original album has been released using the same artwork and covers. The second and third albums have been released on CD, but using different artwork on the covers and different names.

And finally, something I thought of last night... wonder how Genius will handle the release of the Archie prime time special that introduced Sabrina to Riverdale High? This is the show that pitted Reggie versus Big Moose for class president. Sabrina was a new student and just didn't seem to fit it. She wound up crying in the school basement, only to find Big Moose down there as well, depressed, because he didn't think he had a chance against Reggie. The show originally aired on CBS in prime-time to introduce Sabrina before the first "Archie Comedy Hour" was shown on Saturday mornings.

[Steve Carras]

Also, I wonder why they gave Veronica a "southern belle" voice. I guess is that supposed to convey the sense of some prissy high class dame or something?
Laughing Out Loud!!!!!! Y'know it's funny but I always thought she got the 1970s Tom and Jerry treatment and 1980s Chipmunk treatment and Hewewy,Dewey & Louie treatment-that is, turned from a troublemaker into a freakin' nicey type! ;)

[WindsorBear]

Also, I wonder why they gave Veronica a "southern belle" voice. I guess is that supposed to convey the sense of some prissy high class dame or something?

Yeah, something like that. If you have them, go back and read some Archie and/or Betty and Veronica comics from 1968 thru 1970. Some of those actually have Veronica speaking with a southern drawl. One in particular has Jughead making fun of her "southern drool" and Veronica going off screaming "DRAWL, DRAWL. It's a southern DRAWL." Veronica was a lot more prissy, spoiled, and even wicked back then in the comic books. She was constantly putting Betty down, finding ways to make Archie and Reggie fight over her, and treating her family and friends like they were servants. Interestingly enough, all of this was very much down-played for the cartoon series. Only a couple of segments have Veronica acting snobbish, and then it is quite tame compared to the comic book stories that were out at the same time.

Have to hand it to Jane Webb. She was doing all the voices for the female characters in the series. She did great. I loved her Sabrina voice best of all.

[lordsmurf]

The Pokemon episode that was banned for causing epileptic seizures is nothing compared to the light show on the opening of this show. It gives me a headache to stare too closely, and I imagine an epileptic would be having a fit if they watched this.

It hate to sound politically correct, but there almost needs to be a warning on the set. :sad:

[Eric B]

And who out there remembers the white unisex jumpsuits that were put on The Archies for the New Archie/Sabrina Hour in 1977???? Whose idea was that??? I don't remember that, but it sounds like it was inspired by the disco age, and is probably a knockoff of the BeeGees.

[WindsorBear]

The Pokemon episode that was banned for causing epileptic seizures is nothing compared to the light show on the opening of this show. It gives me a headache to stare too closely, and I imagine an epileptic would be having a fit if they watched this.

In '68, when this show first aired on CBS, my family had a black and white TV, so while you could see that there was some type of color change due to the variations of the greyscale, you couldn't tell what it was. It wasn't until I bought the Thorn/EMI/HBO videotapes, and saw these cartoons for the first time in color, that I realized "The Archie Show" had one heck of a "lightshow" opening. And the first few "Dance of the Week" music segments had the same type lightshow as well. It definately puts the TV through a good color test. My old color TV was popping for a week after playing the tape.

[lordsmurf]

It wasn't until I bought the Thorn/EMI/HBO videotapes, and saw these cartoons for the first time in color, that I realized "The Archie Show" had one heck of a "lightshow" opening. .... It definately puts the TV through a good color test. My old color TV was popping for a week after playing the tape.
I remember had badly the VHS releases look too. VHS as a format has several chroma drawbacks, and the wildly flashing colors would just go berzerk both on the television, and on the tape.

[WindsorBear]

I remember had badly the VHS releases look too. VHS as a format has several chroma drawbacks, and the wildly flashing colors would just go berzerk both on the television, and on the tape.

Mine were BETA tapes and didn't look that bad. I still prefer BETA over VHS, but that's another thread (I still have old CED Videodiscs too, and watch them occasionally).

By the way... here's a little Archie TV trivia I like to throw at people... on The Archie Show, the song "Boys and Girls" is actually longer than what is included on The Archies first album. The TV version has the group sing the entire second chorus, while only half of the second chorus is sung on the album.

[WindsorBear]

I don't remember that, but it sounds like it was inspired by the disco age, and is probably a knockoff of the BeeGees.

For those that have the VHS tapes "Archie's Millions" or "Sabrina's Surprise Package", the closing credits seem to be from "The New Archie/Sabrina Hour" where I'm pretty sure these two episodes come from. Watch the closing credits, and you will see a shot of The Archies in those white unisex jumpsuits.

[dth1971]

Windsorbear: You sure know a lot more about Archie's Filmation past than we do.

[WindsorBear]

Windsorbear: You sure know a lot more about Archie's Filmation past than we do.

I was about 8 years old when the first Archie series come on CBS Saturday mornings. I was already a big Archie fan... had lots of the comic books and started collecting the records. So I loved the TV series. I used to audio tape all the episodes of "Archie's Funhouse" when they aired on CBS. Sadly, most of the tapes were lost or destroyed. But not all. I only wish I had taped episodes of "The Archie Comedy Hour".

[dth1971]

I was about 8 years old when the first Archie series come on CBS Saturday mornings. I was already a big Archie fan... had lots of the comic books and started collecting the records. So I loved the TV series. I used to audio tape all the episodes of "Archie's Funhouse" when they aired on CBS. Sadly, most of the tapes were lost or destroyed. But not all. I only wish I had taped episodes of "The Archie Comedy Hour".

You wish you taped other CBS Saturday morning shows (or Saturday morning shows on the other networks) as well.

[Steve Carras]

Yeah, something like that. If you have them, go back and read some Archie and/or Betty and Veronica comics from 1968 thru 1970. Some of those actually have Veronica speaking with a southern drawl. One in particular has Jughead making fun of her "southern drool" and Veronica going off screaming "DRAWL, DRAWL. It's a southern DRAWL." Veronica was a lot more prissy, spoiled, and even wicked back then in the comic books. She was constantly putting Betty down, finding ways to make Archie and Reggie fight over her, and treating her family and friends like they were servants. Interestingly enough, all of this was very much down-played for the cartoon series. Only a couple of segments have Veronica acting snobbish, and then it is quite tame compared to the comic book stories that were out at the same time.

Interesting...I remmeber both the snobbishness of course from the comics (who DOESN'T?):p ), AND the southern accent of the comics. I hate to SAY this, but even Josie was better (at least as discussed in the Laugh-a-Lympics thread!) Alexandra was a "vile jerk" as intended in the comics, to Josie, possibly due to Filmation NOT being the studio that did Josie and Hanna Barbera producing that one (at least "What were you expecting, Scooby Doo", as coming as it did once, from Alexandra is in the late 1958-1965 HB and older WB/MGM cartoon wisecrack tradtion).

[The same network,CBS, carried those, so different standards and practices can't be used as a reason for difference in the prima donnas of Archie (Ronnie) versus Josie (Alexandra)).Plus the same basic cooperative standards were laid down back then for every network.]

Also, when both "Partridge"(HB, ironically adopting their once distributor/parent company, Columbia TV's hit sitcom, to TV-
needless to say Sony Television's LATER 1980s-1990s "Married
With Children? could NEVER see the light o' day till the Simponated
1990s! Still THAT show and its royal family, the Al and Peg Bundys,
never came to Saturday mornings.:p ;) ) anyways,when "Partridge Family" and "Brady" (Filmation and Paramount teaming up to bring that OTHER bright early 1970s family to the
cartoon Sat.AM screen), again the Bradys seems unrea,listic, much more so than the Partridges in either live or animation (again due to the studio animating them) and compared to the Bradys in their own (like, say, Marcia and Jan, or the famous bathroom-flushing (breifly) one called "My Brother's Keeeper" (a final season ) one with Peter and Bobby having a fight and a line being drawn in their room. A literal one.That would NEVER make it at least to Filmation. Given Josie and the P'cats on HB, with Alexandra, had THEY (as was planned initlaly) done the cartoon Bradys I would imagine there would be some conflict--Laurie Partridge and keith Partridge really got on Danny's case sometimes in the 1974 Hanna-Barbera/Columbia Pictures cartoon show.)

[dth1971]

...for his surviving Archie's Funhouse CBS broadcast with original commercials intact!

[DrTooth]

The opening may give you seizures? Uh... I think I'll wait for volume 2.

[aalong64]

You wish you taped other CBS Saturday morning shows (or Saturday morning shows on the other networks) as well.
Uh... How do you know? And why say that?

[dth1971]

Uh... How do you know? And why say that?

Ask windsorbear.

[WindsorBear]

Guys... Gals... this an URGENT request from your buddybear Bob. Back in 1969, 1970 and 1971, I used to audio tape episodes of "The Archie Comedy Hour" and episodes of "Archie's Funhouse" when they were broadcast on CBS on Saturday morning. This was about the same time that small reel-to-reel tape recorders were being replaced with compact cassette recorders. My Comedy Hour stuff was on reel-to-reel and my Funhouse stuff was on cassette.

Over the years, my reel-to-reel stuff has vanished, leaving me only with a couple cassettes of Archie's Funhouse episodes.

I NEED TO FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS A COMPLETE AUDIO TAPING OF AN EPISODE OF "THE ARCHIE COMEDY HOUR" FROM SATURDAY MORNING ON CBS. Sound quality is not important as long as it can be understood what is going on and what is being said. I am requesting this in the very remote chance that someone still has a tape of this. Please ask all your friends, relatives, acquaintances, etc. that would be in the right age range of having been a kid during that time. Since video tape was still far away, a lot of us used to audio tape our favorite shows on Saturday morning. Somewhere out there, somebody has got to still have an audio tape of Comedy Hour.

If somebody has a copy of an episode, or somebody knows of somebody that does, please let them know I will monetarily compensate for a copy of the tape. I desperately need this ASAP for research purposes.

Thanks everyone.
Bob

[dth1971]

Guys... Gals... this an URGENT request from your buddybear Bob. Back in 1969, 1970 and 1971, I used to audio tape episodes of "The Archie Comedy Hour" and episodes of "Archie's Funhouse" when they were broadcast on CBS on Saturday morning. This was about the same time that small reel-to-reel tape recorders were being replaced with compact cassette recorders. My Comedy Hour stuff was on reel-to-reel and my Funhouse stuff was on cassette.

Over the years, my reel-to-reel stuff has vanished, leaving me only with a couple cassettes of Archie's Funhouse episodes.

I NEED TO FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS A COMPLETE AUDIO TAPING OF AN EPISODE OF "THE ARCHIE COMEDY HOUR" FROM SATURDAY MORNING ON CBS. Sound quality is not important as long as it can be understood what is going on and what is being said. I am requesting this in the very remote chance that someone still has a tape of this. Please ask all your friends, relatives, acquaintances, etc. that would be in the right age range of having been a kid during that time. Since video tape was still far away, a lot of us used to audio tape our favorite shows on Saturday morning. Somewhere out there, somebody has got to still have an audio tape of Comedy Hour.

If somebody has a copy of an episode, or somebody knows of somebody that does, please let them know I will monetarily compensate for a copy of the tape. I desperately need this ASAP for research purposes.

Thanks everyone.
Bob

I even posted on the General Animation Forum if anyone has any 1960's-1970's audio Saturday morning cartoon/kid show episodes that can be on cassette or CD-R.